The Demigod, the Hobbit and the Ring
by Syrlai
Summary: Just after the second Titan war, Percy, Nico and Thalia gets dragged into another war in a world not of their own by some gods that clearly have no clue what they just got themselves into. One that Percy is sure they would regret.
1. We Get Kidnapped

**First time writing a Percy Jackson story and a crossover too. **

**I got tired waiting for an update on the other crossovers and decided to do one myself. Hope its okay! This is just a test, to see if anyone would like it. Anyway, this is in Percy's POV. **

* * *

Olympian gods aren't bad. At least, not until you get to know them. They use you most of the time to their dirty work and most of the time, you get the blame and hate from other gods for it too. But you know what? At least they show gratitude. Unlike some otherworldy god that just pulls you out of your dimension and strands you in the middle of nowhere.

I'll start from the beginning…

It was two months after the second Titan War and I was helping out on camp. You'd think that after two or three weeks everything was fine at camp? Nah, new campers come swarming from all over the world and Grover would be bald soon if he doesn't stop pulling all his hair out.

"Incoming messages from Washinton D.C.! Camp-Halfbood doesn't have anymore satyrs to spare to get them!" he said to me one day when I was helping Nico put the finishing touches on his cabin, which was pretty wicked.

I wiped the sweat on my face. "Relax, I'll find someone to do it."

After the war, I pretty much became the leader at camp and I had no say in it. No one officially announced it but they treated me like it. Even Clarisse, she doesn't just shoot glares at me, I know for a fact that behind those glares she was had a grudging respect for me.

"Want my help Grover?" Nico looked down at us from the roof of his cabin.

"Get down here before you hurt yourself!" I told him, knowing full well that he wouldn't. I can't help it, Nico kinda grew on me. Like a little brother.

Nico rolled his eyes but did as I told him too. He jumped down and landed as quietly as a cat.

He looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I said.

"Well, can I go?" he asked.

I thought about it. He was a son of Hades and was far more experienced than the others. He traveled a lot before so I knew that he would be alright all by himself. He would be back in a few days so it was fine. Now that I knew it at the time but everything was not _fine_.

"Sure." I said and Grover bleated nervously as Nico went into his cabin to get his stuff. I turned to him. "Something wrong?"

His eyes look pointedly at the Hades cabin. "Percy, I don't think this is such a good idea." He said.

I frowned. "What's wrong with Nico?"

"Nothing. Its just that… don't you think that he would… I don't know… scare them?"

I stared at him before looking at Nico again. It's true that the kid was a walking vampire but he was looking healthier and happier than before. He wasn't so skinny as he used to be, the bags under his eyes were gone and even though he was pale, there was some color in his cheeks. Not everyone in camp liked him but the rest just respected him, especially Ares. I never thought I'd see the day when the Ares cabin would be so nice. Show up with a dead army on a hellhound and you're suddenly the best of friends.

But then his hair was shaggy, his clothes were old and tattered and he looked so gothic that I had to agree with Grover; Nico looked creepy.

Then again, Nico wanted to help. Even though Hades wasn't liked here much, he was still welcomed and anybody who says otherwise would be at the other end of Anaklusmos. I didn't want him to feel disappointed and left out so I had a plan.

"Go back to the Big House, I'll be there soon." I told Grover.

I ran back to my cabin, took my bag with a canteen of Nectar, a baggie with Ambrosia, a few golden drachmas, a change of clothes and a wad of dollars. How do we get so much money? Call it as a demigod allowance from our parents.

I came back just to see Nico closing the door. When he turned around, he stared at me suspiciously.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"I'm guessing I'm not going alone." he looked at my backpack.

I looked my best to look apologetic. "Sorry." I said.

He sighed, frustrated and kicked the dirt. "Percy I can do this myself."

"I know." I told him.

"Then don't treat me like a kid!"

"Technically, you still are."

"I'm older then your mother's mother!"

"I know that too."

He looked at me with pleading eyes and I sighed. "Nico, I know you can do this and I trust you that you're going to be alright but I think you're gonna need help convincing this kid."

"Why wouldn't he believe me?"

"Because not all of us are ready to accept the truth. I know I did." I said. Nico stared at my face, looking for any sign that I'm lying but found none. He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, you win."

I grinned. "Come on, let's go to the Big House."

* * *

After I convinced Grover to let Nico go, we went sailing up in the sky on Blackjack's back.

"So who are we looking for?" I asked.

"Garfield Hepherd." Nico said and chuckled. I did too, after all, who would name their kid _Garfield_?

We flew by a couple of buildings when I suddenly asked, "When this is over, wanna come over for dinner at my place?"

Nico looked surprised and I frowned. He doesn't have to be surprised, he was always welcomed at my place. Mom and Paul are cool at having him around the house.

"Won't your mom mind?" he asked nervously.

I ruffled his hair. "Nah, they're cool with you."

He slapped my hand away playfully. "That would be nice..." he smiled slightly.

I grinned.

_What about me boss?_ Blackjack asked. _Can't I go to your place?_

"Sorry Blackjack but we don't have a stable to put you there." I told him.

_How about your room then?_

"Not a chance, but I'll give you some sugar cubes when we get back to Camp to make up for it."

_Either way boss, you're the man!_

I patted his mane, knowing how little that I wouldn't be at camp to keep my promise.

"You know what, I'm not even going to bother what you two were talking about." Nico said. I grinned.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Blackjack staggered in mid air. "Blackjack, what's wrong?" I said as Blackjack tried to remain airborne.

_Boss... it suddenly got heavy! _he whined under the stress. Heavy? Blackjack's been carrying things heavier than me and Nico combined, our weight shouldn't be a problem to him. I know my skin is now as tough as steel but that didn't make me fat right?

Then all things went bad as all Hades broke loose.

Blackjack couldn't handle it anymore and gave in from sixty feet in the air and we found ourselves plummeting to our deaths.

Nico screamed beside me and I joined him.

I didn't even want to think how I would look like as a Percy pancake. Blackjack fell with us, limp and lifeless.

For a moment, I thought he died or something, until I shouted "Sugar cubes!" Blackjack's body shuddered and beating hard with his wings, he managed to stay in the air. Unfortunately for us, we were still falling and the sidewalk was getting closer and closer.

_I'm coming boss! Don't worry, I'll save you! _he said and dived like a jet.

"Then save us!" I screamed. Before we ended up splattered on the pavement, Blackjack caught us but we ended up crashing anyway into a park.

"Hit the brakes!" Nico screamed.

"There are no brakes!" I screamed back at him as Blackjack tried to lift up in the air. We crashed into the dirt hard but not before a branch slapped me right across the face and we ended rolling on the ground. I came to a stop and tried to get up until Nico slammed into me and then Blackjack.

Nico groaned.

_My wing!_ Blackjack moaned.

I grunted and thanked the gods I had Achille's curse or otherwise I would have been flattened like clay dough.

"Oh gods, Percy?" a familiar voice said and I looked up.

Thalia looked down on me with a smirk that didn't match up to the tone of concern in her voice. It was like she was laughing at the same time.

I blew my bangs out of my face. "Nice to see you too Thalia." I said.

She helped Nico get to his feet and both of them managed to get Blackjack off of me.

"It's faster to take a pegasus he said, nothing will happen he said." Nico muttered behind me.

"I heard that." I said and saw him flinch. I went to check Blackjack and found nothing. He was sore all right but man was he angry. He stomped the ground and was shaking his mane.

_You okay man?_ I asked him.

_Don't know boss, it feels like some divine force messed with me. _Blackjack whinnied softly. I forced him to get down and told him to rest. I walked towards where Nico and Thalia was on a bench and looked around me. The place was deserted, which was odd. Usually people would be around at this time of day but there was no one. My shoulders tensed, it was like last time when we, children of the big three, got together for a quest down in the Underworld. I didn't know who but I'm sure a god was behind this.

Nico looked up, his hair looked like a bird just nested there.

"So what brought you here?" I asked Thalia.

"I found some strange animal tracks and I followed it. Lady Artemis couldn't sense it and the other hunters just doesn't see it." Thalia said.

"How strange?"

"They looked human but they have this bad smell - monster type smell."

Nico frowned. "It's too much of a coincidence though for all three of us to meet here." he said. Me and Thalia looked at each other, all of us thinking of the exact same thing.

"Then there's no one around. Somebody might be planning to use us." Nico said.

"Or kill us." Thalia added.

He nodded. "Or kill us." he repeated.

The earth beneath our feet suddenly groaned and I was thrown off, swept off my feet like a feather and started going around and around in a cyclone. I wondered if this is what it's like to be in a dryer. From my sides I could see Thalia and Nico going around me.

Reaching my hand out, I grabbed Thalia's wrist. "Nico!" I yelled.

He half doggie-paddled and half blown towards me, his hand outstretched. We started to spin faster and faster. I made a grab for Nico's left wrist and Thalia on his right.

"Holding on!" I yelled.

"We are!" they yelled back at me.

I thought I was gonna be sick and throw up my lunch but then everything turned dark. We were still spinning and I knew we weren't shadow travelling. I know the feeling but this - I felt like I was getting stretched like rubber then rolled flat by a pin. I couldn't hear anything and I couldn't see anything.

If they were like me, I knew they would be screaming out too.

I kept my hold on Nico and Thalia, afraid that if I let go I'll never see them again.

Just when the stretching was getting worse, light forced the shadows away and we fell six feet from the air. I let go of their hands. As usual, I was at the bottom of the stack.

I landed on my back then Thalia fell on my stomach and then Nico. If it wasn't for my curse I would have been in extreme pain.

"Why is it that you're always at the top?" I grunted.

"Because I'm the youngest?" Nico managed to get out weakly.

"I thought you were older than my mom's mom?"

Thalia shoved Nico off her and stood up. Dusting her pants and shaking her head, she looked around. "Where are we?" she said.

Nico offered me a hand and I took it.

I looked around and saw that we weren't in America anymore. We were in a forest full of the biggest trees, tall as giants, that I have ever seen. The place was quiet and I could feel a faint hum in the air, soft voices that brushed against the branches.

"Magic." I whispered.

The place was filled with it. I didn't know what but this place worried me, and I just don't mean about getting sent to an unknown land full of big trees. No, it felt like I wasn't supposed to _be_ here. That my existence was not welcomed here.

"I'm guessing were not in America anymore." I said and Thalia punched my arm, only regretting it after.

She cursed in Ancient Greek. "I forgot that you can't feel that anymore." she said.

"Think we're in a different world?" Nico said and we stared at him.

Before we could answer him, a bunch of dudes jumped out of nowhere with bows pointed at all of us. Instantly, we had our weapons out and was back to back to each other as we faced our opponents.

I expected hungry monsters, crazy wild men or just some misunderstanding mortal but I didn't expect _that. _Skin that glowed, long faces with no imperfections and pointed ears. I'm pretty sure no mortal looked like _that_. I was surprised but I didn't let my guard down, and neither did Thalia and Nico.

They shouted something at us that I couldn't understand.

"We're outnumbered." Thalia said right next to me. She was right, there were like twenty of them and only three of us. Then again we're kids of the Big Three.

One of them stepped forward, he had long platinum blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and looked much more... _welcoming_ than the others who looked like they very much wanted to kill us.

"Peace." the dude said but we didn't lower our weapons. I noticed how most of the enemy's attention was on Nico's sword.

"I am Legolas of Mirkwood. Speak and you will not be harmed." Legolas said.

Since I didn't know where Mirkwood was I decided not to point that out and decided to play safe. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Thalia Grace."

"Nico di Angleo."

Legolas studied us. "How did you come here travelers?"

"We didn't exactly come here of our own will. We were more like kidnapped." Thalia kicked me and Nico rolled his eyes. "What?" I said. "You know we were."

"Take their weapons." Legolas said and we tensed, ready to spring and attack them once they got closer.

"What are you going to do?" I asked Legolas.

"I will take you to my Lord. Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Thalia snorted.

"As if we'd go with you. How do we know we can even trust you?" Thalia said.

Legolas didn't answer and instead spoke in another language. The others lowered their bows. He turned to us. "You don't have to, keep your weapons." Legolas said.

"Will you go with us?" I didn't know what but I decided to go along with Legolas.

"Percy, are you nuts?" Thalai hissed at me as we walked. "How can you even trust them?"

"But we don't know where we are Thals, and I know you know. We aren't even in our own world." I said, knowing how true my were words suddenly were.

She turned silent. "Still Percy, going with people who wanted to kill you a few minutes ago ins't the smartest thing to do." Nico said, looking at Legolas, then, switching to Ancient Greek he said _"Nor is going to their secret hideout any better. Besides, what if their 'Lord' wants to kill us?" _

_"We'll find out I guess."_ I said back to him.

What I found out later would have blown my mind to pieces.

* * *

**Was it horrible? Tell me what you know! **

**I didn't know how fun it was to write as Percy but then again I might suck at it, so tell me what you guys think. First three comments would decide whether I should continue or not. :D **


	2. We Meet a Really Old Dude

**Go ahead, kill me, run me with your bronze swords and pointy arrows because I know I can't reason myself out of this one. I'm really sorry for not updating this earlier. I broke my promises too so I'm just really, really sorry. However, I'm not the type to leave my story longer than two months so here I am, back to writing this crossover. **

**Thanks for those people who reviewed, I really am happy you liked the first chapter and really, I'm flattered you guys think that I got RR's writing style down but I think I'm still far from that. I enjoy writing as Percy though xD**

**I shouldn't be keeping you guys long so here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings an Percy Jackson because J.R.R Tolkien and Rick Riordan owns them.**

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The moment we stepped in into their turf, my jaw dropped.

The architecture was out of my world - it looked as if the structures just came along with nature, like it just _blended_ with it. Annabeth would have killed to see what I saw; the buildings gleamed with soft light that reminded me of the moon, walls of earth surrounded it, hiding it completely from the outer world.

It looked like these people were isolating themselves. If they were anything like satyrs then they love nature and peace.

I sensed below us was a river about seventy feet down. This was before we stepped on the bridge, I knew because I was the son of the Sea god.

We passed through some more pointy-eared people. The more I saw them, the more I thought of the kids at the Hermes Cabin. They had the same elfin ears but they didn't have this mischievous look in their eyes like the Hermes Cabin did. They were much more serious.

They didn't whisper and point, they just stared at us quietly until we passed before going back to wherever they were doing.

Legolas led us into some kind of throne room, standing in the middle of it was what I thought to be their Lord. He seemed older than the others, he had long black hair and his eyes had this look of wisdom, like he had lived for over a thousand years - longer than my teacher Chiron, who was the trainer of heroes since ancient times.

The people that escorted us here and Legolas bowed respectively before him.

"Lord Elrond." Legolas said.

He dismissed the others in their language. Legolas went to stand by Elrond's side. Elrond turned to us and started to study us.

"It's not everyday that strange travelers come into Elf realms without permission. Stranger than most, you're clothes are also most unfamiliar with." He eyed Thalia's death to Barbie T-shirt.

"You don't get visitors often?" I asked.

"No young one." Elrond said. "People of your kind rarely venture into the lands of the elves."

"Elves?" Thalia said, obviously not buying in. I wasn't so sure about it either; I imagined elves like Santa's elves with pointy ears, red outfits and really, really short. These people were far from what I imagined, they were tall and graceful.

"Elves don't exist." Nico said bluntly.

"Yeah, but we're not supposed to exist either." I reminded him.

"Okay, let's just say for the sake of the it that Elves do exist. How come we never saw them?" Nico looked at me straight in the eye.

"Yeah Percy," Thalia said, joining in. "I traveled all across America with Lady Artemis and I didn't see any Elves."

"Why are you two ganging up on me?" I said, annoyed. From the corners of my eyes I could see Elrond speaking quietly to Legolas. I didn't know what they were talking about but Elrond looked like he was either amused or confused.

It was probably rude for us to be talking like they don't exist. I remembered when Chiron told me how _I_ would be a myth someday, that I was believed not to be real. I didn't like it so I decided to shut up. Apparently, Nico and Thalia weren't given the same lecture as me. Thinking back to what Elrond said earlier he said that they didn't have that much visitors. Did we suddenly land ourselves on a remote island in the middle of nowhere like the TV show LOST?

I turned to Elrond. "I'm really sorry about my cousins," I said.

Elrond raised a hand and said, "There is no need to apologize. I do not blame you for believing that Elves do not exist. You must have come from a far region where Elves have left Middle-Earth to go west."

"Were in the middle of the earth? I thought that was the equator?" I said.

Elrond and Legolas exchanged glances.

"You do not know where you are?" Legolas asked.

"This isn't one of those places like the Sea of Monsters right?" I asked Thalia. She shook her head, unsure. I turned back to Legolas. "Um... no."

"Did you not come from the North? East? Or are you a Dundleding?"

"A what?" Nico said, clearly offended by being called as something ridiculous as a _Dundleding_, which I have no idea what it means.

"Listen here, were from America. You know, the land of opportunity?" Thalia said, trying to get something familiar from them. They remained confused.

"I believe we do not know what you speak of." Elrond said, looking perplexed.

"What about McDonalds?" Nico added.

"Forget about McDonalds!" I said.

"This settles it." Nico stated. "We're totally in a different world."

I know I said earlier that I believed that we were in a different world but I thought in the sense that we were far from civilization. From mortals. But what Nico implied was totally different.

"What makes you think that Death Boy?" Thalia asked him. Nico glared at her. "Don't call me that and think of it; we get sucked inside a cyclone, transported in this weird magical forest filled with a secret society of Elves and that were in _Middle-Earth_. I don't remember a Middle-Earth being in the map and if there was, it would have to be a place where no mortal ventures into and is just marked as unknown and that almost every corner of the earth has been explored already."

"So if this is a different world, how did we get here?" Thalai asked.

"Zeus?" I said. Thalia glared at me. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Yes Percy, my Dad just so happens to be bored and send his daughter along with his brother's sons to another world while all the while just _asking_ to start a war with your Dads." She said sarcastically.

If she was expecting me to say sorry to Zeus I wasn't going to apologize. We were in a different world and no god was going to smite me, turn me into a plankton or make me go crazy. I was going to enjoy this while I still could.

"Kronos?" Nico offered.

"He doesn't have that kind of power," Thalia said.

"He wouldn't be the Lord of Time he wasn't," I said. "There's no god or Titan that has the power to do that. I don't think there's even a god who could do that." I turned to Nico. "There isn't... right?" he shook his head.

"Which means..." Thalia turned to face Elrond. "_their _gods brought us here."

Gods needed heroes because they couldn't interfere, forbidden by the ancient laws and blah, blah, blah. We did the job that gods couldn't do because partly, we were their kids and the other was that we didn't want to be turned into piles of ashes. I couldn't understand why some other god would kidnap us unless we had a job to do. Didn't they have kids of their own?

Elrond and Legolas were listening the whole time and hardly flinched when Thalia glared at them.

Usually, Thalia's glare could scare anyone. I got used to it after some time and it looked like the elves were hardly fazed at all.

"You must be spreaking of Eru Ilúvatar," Elrond said, his eyes never leaving Thalia's glare."He is the supreme God of Arda, creator and father of all Men and Elves."

I remembered the first time I came to camp and had a hard time believing that gods existed. I thought at first it was 'God' until Chiron corrected me. He called it metaphysical. Their god sounded a bit like 'God' from our world. Nico and I exchanged looks; Nico read the expression on my face and he nodded, he was thinking the same thing.

"Does this... Eru interfere with this world?" Nico asked carefully, trying not to offend the elves.

"Ever since the creation of Arda, Eru has never once interfered with the lives of mortal men and Elves." Elrond's brows were furrowed, like he was frowning but he really looked curious. "Is their a reason as to why you are questioning Eru?" he asked.

"Because only a god can bring us here. Either that, or it's dark magic." Thalia crossed her arms.

I really felt sorry for the elves because they looked pretty confused. I knew how that felt when someone won't give me straight answers.

"You speak as if the doings of the gods are normal for you," Elrond murmured. "Who are you really child?"

"I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus." I thought it couldn't get any awkward after she said that. Elrond waited in silence while he had this look on his face that said, 'And so?'. I knew Thalia for three years. She was confident. _Too_ confident. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turned to me, her eyes darkening like a storm.

"Calm down," I said. "They hardly understand what's going on. _We_ don't even know what's going on."

"Percy's right," Nico said as he stepped up. "They can still help us. We just have to explain."

Thalia took a deep breath and nodded.

"Forgive us Lord Elrond but we're just shocked. We don't come from around here as you can see, we... we don't belong in this world. We came from another world," Nico explained and waited for Elrond's reaction, he looked surprised. I saw that Legolas was having a hard time believing it but didn't say anything. I flashed him a small smile that he returned with his own. "I know its hard to believe but from where we come from, gods are pretty normal in our lives."

"As normal as our lives can get," I muttered. I didn't realize that it came out louder than I wanted it to and now everyone was looking at me. I felt my face going hot as I avoided looking Elrond in the eye because if I looked, I knew I wouldn't be able to control my mouth and somehow spill everything out.

"_Gods_," Elrond repeated. "We only have one creator yet you speak of more than one divine being."

"They didn't exactly create us the same way they created your kind," I said. _Not in the way you think. _I thought to myself.

"The gods we're talking about control the forces of nature," Nico said. "Like the sky, sea and the dead."

"And your connections to these gods?" Elrond asked.

"We're their kids," I said.

* * *

I didn't think that the silence that followed would be really bad. It was so thick that I could have pulled Riptide out and slashed at it. I couldn't tell what Elrond was thinking, nor Legolas either. After a while, someone knocked and Legolas had to leave but not before giving me a searching look.

There was something in his eyes that I knew well. Hope? I didn't understand why he would look like that.

"You yourselves are gods?" Elrond asked, breaking the silence.

Now that we were past the hard part of convincing him that gods exist, it was getting easier to tell him. I know what you're thinking, _Why would you tell a complete stranger your life's secret? _Elrond was an elf. A magical creature. I was pretty sure he had experienced weirder things than gods and that talking to three strangers who came out of nowhere wasn't the strangest thing he's ever seen.

"We're actually demigods. Half human, half god," I said.

Elrond nodded slowly. "And so you believe that Eru had brought you here?"

Thalia shrugged. "It's possible,"

"The gods only call for a hero's help when they want something," Nico said. "I take it that something really bad happened around here?"

Elrond could only give him a look before turning away from us. "In the lands of Mordor, evil is rising again after so many long years..." his eyes darkened as if he was remembering something bad.

"I am not sure of what your coming brings, whether hope or doom..." he looked at us. "but know this godlings, all will be revealed in time. You should rest, I must speak with an old friend of mine." He turned away from us again and called for someone. A beautiful elvish lady came in, she had long dark hair, her skin was fair and white, it reminded me of moonlight and her eyes... it was grey. It wasn't stormy grey like Annabeth's, it was like a cloudless sky at night. I could tell she was related to Elrond with the shape of her face and that she was royalty.

She walked towards us and bowed her head. We did the same while Nico stuttered, "You're really pretty."

Thalia laughed and I just chuckled at Nico's blushing face. The lady smiled at him that she appreciated the compliment. "I am Arwen. Your name child?" Her voice was soft and musical. I thought that if she sang, she could even outshine the best singers in the world.

"N-Nico di Angelo," Nico looked down on his shoes.

"I'm Thalia." Thalia coughed as Nico shot a glare at her.

"Percy Jackson." I smiled, I couldn't help it. She reminded me a bit of my mom.

"Arwen my dear, could you take them to their rooms for they will stay the night." Elrond said, never looking back at us as he gazed outside of the window.

"Yes, Father." She curtsied before leading us out.

"Isn't she a bit too old for your taste Nico?" Thalia whispered as we walked behind Arwen.

"Shut up," Nico hissed. "It wasn't like that."

"Sure it wasn't." Thalia rolled her eyes.

"She reminds me of my mom," I said without thinking. Nico nodded in agreement and I realized that Nico might have been reminded of his mom too.

Arwen took us to three different rooms, side-by-side. Thalia took the one on the left while I got the middle room and Nico got the one on the right.

"We will lend you some clothes soon. For now, I suggest you rest. You all look tired," Arwen said.

Thalia immediately went into hers and I heard Nico let out a sigh when he went into his room. I took a moment to prepare myself on what I'll see before opening the handle. Imagine the best room a five-star hotel can give you without and electrical appliance. Forget about air-conditioning when the doors that led outside to the balcony were open and I could feel a soft breeze brushing against my skin even though nothing moved.

There was a large bed with white and gold sheets on it. The frame and some of the walls were golden brown while the floor was light brown marble. I traced the intricate patterns on my bed with my finger. The metal was artistically bended, resulting it looking like golden vines were intertwined with each other to make the bed.

I now knew why Nico sighed. It was too bright but at least not everything was white. Nico hated white. He probably would have gone crazy like his brothers and sisters if he was forced into a straight jacket and thrown into a white room.

After we checked out our rooms, Thalia and Nico came over and sat on my bed.

"I hate white," Nico grumbled as he plopped himself on my bed.

"Get off my bed," I said at them. "You two have your own beds."

"Maybe later," Nico yawned.

"Ditto." Thalia crossed her legs.

I was out of the mood to throw them out of my room so I just pulled out a chair and sat on it, dropping my bag beside the bed.

Besides getting thrown into another world and meeting an Elf Lord, I was pretty relaxed. I felt at peace and it didn't take me long to realize that this could be part of the magic of this place. It didn't feel like the Lotus Casino where once you step in, you'll never get out, brainwashed for all eternity playing video games. I was pretty sure I can walk out of here anytime unless the Elves drag me back inside.

We stayed like that with Nico already out and Thalia looking like she would like a nice nap. I had my eyes closed already and was ready to crash when we heard soft footsteps outside my door. I jerked awake and stood up instantly as if I was fed with my mom's expresso beans. The door opened and came in some old-man-child-thingy. No pun intended. He was the size of ten-year old except that he looked really old with white hair and has really, really hairy feet. Was he some kind of ancient elf? He didn't look wise.

Thalia shot to her feet, startling Nico. He raised himself on his arms and looked at us. "Whas going on?" he yawned.

The old kid turned to look at us in surprise like he didn't notice us there. A smile lightened his old wrinkled face. "Travelers I see! And so young too." He chuckled. "I'm Bilbo Baggins from the Shire."

"Yeah, I'm Percy Jackson from New York." I said as I walked towards him slowly. He nodded and held out a hand. I stared at it for a moment before looking at Bilbo.

"My dear boy, I'm no longer the adventurer I used to be. Don't worry, I won't bite," he said and I shook hands with him. He gave me look up and down before frowning. "New York? I believe I haven't heard of it."

"It's um... located somewhere really, really far."

"Oh? Is is located North?"

"Uh, it's underground." I said and I could hear Thalia face palming behind me.

"Percy!" she said.

Bilbo must have misunderstood us and said, "Don't be ashamed my dear, being related to the dwarfs isn't a bad thing. They're good people once you get pass their stubborness."

"We're not dwarfs! We're humans!" Nico said, wide awake now.

Bilbo blinked. "Is that so? No wonder you have no beard and you're far too skinny as well."

Nico scowled. "I'm not skinny! It's just the clothes!"

"And the hair," Thalia added. Nico just glared at her.

"Your names?" Bilbo asked. Both of them introduced themselves.

"So," I said. "What were you looking for in our room?"

Bilbo turned to me and he smiled a crinkly smile. "Oh I was just looking for my ink bottle. It seems that I have forgotten where I have put it. Ah age," he shook his head. "I forget the littlest things now a days." he sighed.

"How old are you?" Nico asked curiously.

Bilbo beamed. "Why, I'm one hundred and eleven years old my boy!"

Nico and Thalia's eyes bulged. Seriously? No human can live that long, that and we don't have feet that was hairy as big foot's.

"Is that pretty old for an elf?" I asked.

Bilbo surprised me by laughing. "My dear boy, you thought I was an elf? No, no, I am but a Hobbit." I guess that anything that was a man-child was a Hobbit. Bilbo surprised us further though when he said, "Elves and Half-Elves are immortal unless they die in battle or grief or choose to live as a mortal. Why, Lord Elrond for example, he's six-thousand five hundred years old - oh something along those lines."

I probably looked stupid gaping like a fish but I just had to wonder, Elrond was even _older_ than my dad. He looked forty for gods' sakes!

Thalia and Nico weren't looking any better than me.

After a while Nico said, "What's too old for my tastes Thalia?"

* * *

**I want to point out some things here. There's no NicoxArwen, it's just a joke for those who thought differently. After this one though we'll be meeting the Hobbits and the chapter after the next will be the Council.**

**I have another thing to point out and it is that I'm not a regular updater. I'm sorry in advance but this might be a weekly or monthly fic because I have three other stories that I update. So again, I'm really sorry.**

**Thanks for reading and tell me how you guys want to torture me for not updating! **


	3. Cold as Death

**First off - DON'T KILL ME! **

**I'm really sorry that this chapter was updated really late. I was so busy with life that I just didn't have time to update anything and when I do have the time, I don't have a PC or a bloody laptop to use. Good news is that my Aunt's future husband (not engaged as of yet), is lending me his laptop (the man has 3). YAY! Schoolwork will be easier this way since I can carry it around with me and I can write on my spare time. Bad news though is that I may have to wait a week because he has to sort out the data in his laptop before handing it over to me.**

**Another thing I want to say - I don't want to hear any arguing how the Greek gods are better than the Elves. For one, these are two different worlds and comparing them is insulting to one another! Besides being older than the Greek gods, doesn't make them better. I can argue about this the whole day if anyone is interested. **

** Anyway, I'm keeping you guys too long so here is the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and Lord of the Rings, although I really wished I do.**

* * *

Bilbo was a really cool storyteller. He told us several stories about his time when he went on adventures, to the Lonely Mountain, the dwarves, nearly getting eaten by trolls, finding Elvish swords that glow in the presence of smelly goblins… after hearing all that he went through, I could help but be awed by him. He was so little yet he did all these adventures and lived long enough to tell it. We didn't notice it was dark already until Arwen knocked on the door, delivering dinner to us.

"You were all enjoying yourselves that I didn't have the heart to interrupt," she said as other elves came into the room with silver trays.

"Thanks for the food," Thalia said. Arwen smiled.

Bilbo looked outside and sprang to his feet. "Goodness! Has it been that long already?"

"You're leaving Mr. Baggins?" Nico asked. "What about the story?"

"I'll tell you more about it some other time. Right now, you must eat." He smiled at us and I couldn't help but smile back. Bilbo had this grandfatherly aura around him that made him so approachable. I never had a grandfather because he died in a plane accident and the other was a Titan that tried to kill me several times over.

Bilbo left the room with Arwen as soon as the meal was delivered.

Thalia picked up a grape and popped it into her mouth. "When we get back, let's go for some cheeseburgers."

I wholeheartedly agreed. Not that I don't like healthy food, but I need a healthy dose of greasy junk. Nico, on the other hand, who I expected to say yes immediately, was dozing off against the bed, his dinner forgotten on his lap. He looked exhausted even though he didn't use any of his powers. I set my own plate down and felt his forehead. Like usual, his skin was cold to the touch. If it wasn't for the rising movement of his chest, Nico could have passed for a corpse.

"Nothing's wrong with him," I said.

Thalia yawned. "He's twelve. He probably didn't take his nap earlier." She stretched her arms over her head.

I took Nico's plate and placed it on the table. I tried not to wake him as I picked him up but it seems that it didn't matter – the kid slept like a rock, even when I accidentally banged his head against the doorframe that Thalia held open for me. I carried him to his room, took his Aviator jacket and boots off and closed the door.

Thalia was behind me when I turned around. "Playing the big brother role Percy?" she said.

I suddenly felt a bit defensive. "What's wrong with that?"

She shook her head, a rueful smile on her face. "Nothing, just thought that it's good that he has you. I was there when Bianca died and I didn't do anything to help him."

"It's not like you killed her Thalia," I said. "It was my stupid plan, remember?" Even though I made my peace with Bianca already, it didn't change the fact that it was my idea that killed her.

"I don't blame you Percy. No one does." She said, then gave me a pat on my shoulder before going towards her room. I didn't know what that was about but I decided not to think about it so much. Right now, we're stuck in a world where Santa's elves are immortal super models and little men with hairy feet. We needed to find a way back before our parents rip the universe apart searching for us.

I went back to my room and plopped on the bed without taking my shoes off. I didn't know why, but I felt drained, like all my energy was sucked out of a straw. I closed my eyes and felt myself opening them where I could only see darkness.

I sat up, my hand reaching for my sword. But it wasn't there. Riptide was gone.

I cursed in Ancient Greek and sprang to my feet. Where was I? I couldn't see anything but darkness. From the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I whipped around blindly when something crashed into me, knocking me down on the ground.

"Percy? Percy, is that you?" the thing said.

"Nico?" I felt his face. No one could be that cold without being dead.

He sighed in relief. "Thank gods, I thought I was the only one here!"

"Where are we anyway?" I pushed him off.

"Don't know. One minute I was eating, the next I was here." Nico looked around. I felt him tense beside me.

"Nico, what – "

"Shhh..." he said.

All of a sudden, bright light shone down on us like a stage light. I blinked at the sudden change. "Thalia?" I heard Nico say.

"Percy? Nico? Where in gods names are we?" she said as she covered her eyes with her hand.

"_Heroes," _a voice echoed all around us. It was like a soft whisper, only we can hear clearly as day. Immediately, all three of us were back to back in defensive stances. Even without our weapons, we could still kick butt. "_At ease, for I have no intention of harming any of you," _it said.

"Are you the one who brought us here?" Thalia shouted to the voice.

"_No heroes. I did not." _The voice replied.

"Then who did?" I asked.

"_The Dark Lord Sauron!" _A shudder went up my back and the atmosphere around us turned cold. _"Even in your dreams his evil seeps in… he was the one who brought you here, had taken you from your world, to use you as pawns."_

"Big mistake on his part. I mean, who in their right mind would choose Percy as a pawn?" Nico said as he waved his hand at me.

"You just gestured at all of me," I said.

Nico nodded, as if it was exactly what he meant. "Look at Kronos and see where that got him!"

"_Be as it may son of Hades, Sauron's evil knows no bounds. His darkness creeps into the hearts of men, whispering in their ears of promises that will end with a demise worse than death."_

"Been there, done that. Anything else we should know?" I said. The ground shook, as if the god was getting annoyed.

Without my sword in hand, I felt defenseless. The circle of light that we were standing on was shrinking smaller by the second and darkness was closing in on us fast as if… as if he was in our dream right now. "Can't gods give us any straight answers for once?" I said as I stepped back.

"If that happened then things would be too easy," Thalia said ruefully.

"_I have been sleeping for so long that this is the best that I can do." _The voice grew fainter.

"What? All you did was gave us some crappy dream!" Nico shouted as we came together tighter, trying to stay in the light.

"If you're gonna say something then say it!" I shouted. The darkness swirled by our feet. I could feel it – it was like the time when I was twelve-years-old again and I was standing by the edge of Tartarus. Only this time, something was trying to pull me in. The darkness crawled up my legs and I had to strain my neck to look up.

"_The only way to leave this world and return to your own is to destroy the One Ring. I wish you luck heroes."_

Then the darkness swallowed our heads and I heard nothing more.

To be honest, I've had worse dreams than this but it didn't make the dream less scary. When the darkness took over, I saw flashes of a dark tower with a flaming eyeball on the top, a wasted land crawling with what Bilbo described as goblins and a fiery volcano. Then I suddenly found myself face-down on the cold stone ground. I scrambled up to my feet and looked around.

I saw the moon and the stars up in the dark sky. Looking at the bright stars, I couldn't find any constellation I was familiar with, which means I wasn't dreaming about home. Speaking about home, my mom would be worrying by now; her knowing that I jump out of flaming buildings, blow up historical monuments and jump to my death daily while saving the world didn't make things any better. I was guilty for putting her through all that but I was sure to come back. I had to. I had no plans on dying in a different world.

Annabeth would kill me if that happened… oh gods, when I come back she'll kill me! I can just imagine it happening… While I tried not to think about what my girlfriend would do to me when I go back, I heard running from behind me.

My first reaction was surprise. It was a young, curly-haired, hairy-footed, hobbit. My second reaction was to take Riptide and hack the thing following him to pieces. Ever watched Harry Potter? The things were like the dementors except they couldn't fly and were carrying swords. Speaking of swords, I had no sword and looked around for _something_ that I can use. They advanced slowly toward the hobbit and without thinking, I charged at them, ready to take them down.

It wasn't the smartest thing to do, I know. But you try and stand there doing nothing while some hobbit got skewered in front of you. I thought that I would pass harmlessly into air, instead, I felt like a bucket of ice was dumped over me when I passed through them, like I was some kind of ghost. For the second time since I started dreaming, I fell on my face. My knees just crumpled and my teeth wouldn't stop chattering. I was so cold.

The things stopped moving, like it felt me. The hobbit tried to make a run for it while they were distracted but one of them appeared out of nowhere. Flat on my face, I watched in horror as it raised it sword and plunged the blade into the Hobbit's shoulder. Agony ripped out of the Hobbit's mouth and I couldn't help but scream in helplessness.

I woke up shivering. My heavy breathing coming out as puffs of white. It was crazy because there wasn't even an AC in the room. Rubbing my arms to make the cold go away, my mind raced on the dream I just had and I knew what I had to do. Dragging my body off the bed took a while, I had to crawl towards the door because my joints felt like they froze in place. If this is what being old feels like, I'm not sure if I'm still looking forward to it. I only managed to reach the door when it slammed against my head and Thalia walked in.

"Percy, where are you? We need to - Percy?" Thalia reached out to me but when she touched my skin, her hand instantly recoiled as if she was burned.

"Gods Percy, you're cold as death!" she said and ran towards my bed. I felt the sheets being placed around my shoulders when Nico walked in.

"Whose cold as death?" he asked.

"N-N-Nico!" I said, my teeth still chattering. If this keeps going on and I chip a tooth, I'll be paying a visit to the dentist. I doubt a power drill would do anything on me.

Nico knelt beside me, his hand posing to touch my forehead when Thalia pulled his arm away. "Look at what happened to me!" she showed him her fingers. The tips looked like the signs of frostbite. "You sure about touching him Death Boy?" Nico wrenched his arm from her.

"I'm as cold as death, I can handle it." Compared to the freezing temperature I'm feeling, Nico's hand was warm. Like magic, the warmth spread. Banishing the cold that I was feeling. I closed my eyes and let it consume me.

Thalia let out a gasp and I opened my eyes.

Nico clutched his hand, a hiss coming from his mouth. His hand was black. Another hiss, this time in anger and his hand burst into dark bluish flames.

"Nico!" Me and Thalia yelled.

"What?" he said, as if setting his hand on fire didn't hurt him. In fact, he looked pretty annoyed. Like burning paper, the black that tainted his hand burned away with the flames, leaving his hand looking like it wasn't barbecued a few seconds ago. He turned to me. "What happened?" he demanded. So I told him the vision I had about the dark cloaked things that came after the Hobbit. By the look on Nico's face, I could tell that he and them wouldn't get along.

"Do you know what they are?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that they're dead and as evil as Kronos' underpants." He made a face. "On second thought, I don't want to think about it."

Thalia and I looked at each other. I saw the worry in her eyes as she massaged her hand. Being a Hunter helped the frostbite heal itself and now it looked good as ever.

"This place keeps getting better and better," she said sourly. "If Percy didn't have his Achilles curse, he would have died."

Nico shook his head. "I don't think so. The curse allows spells and physical attacks to bounce off him. Curse or no, it'll affect us either way. Maybe because we're demigods that we can handle it." Nico flexed his hand.

"I got frostbite and Seaweed Brain almost froze to death, how is it that we can handle it?" Thalia said, as she crossed her arms.

Nico scowled at her. "Questions later. Isn't there a Hobbit in trouble?"

I almost forgot that there was a Hobbit in need for saving. I got back up on my feet, ignoring Thalia and Nico's protests. "Nico's right," I said. My voice sounded a bit weary but I shook myself awake.

"You don't look so good Percy," Nico said. "You look like you could pass out any minute."

"I can take it," I snapped.

Nico raised his hands defensively and I backed off. "Sorry," I said to him.

Thalia sighed. "Stubborn Seaweed," she said.

"It runs in the family," I told her.

"So where is it?" Thalia asked.

"Where what?" I said.

"Where the Hobbit was!" I grimaced. I forgot about that part. Thalia looked like she wanted to smack the upside of my head.

"Uh..." I said.

* * *

It was a good thing Thalia didn't clobbered me, although I was pretty sure that nothing that she can do would hurt me. Being struck by lightning won't kill me exactly but it didn't mean I would appreciate having my clothes burned to a crisp. I didn't exactly bring a spare shirt and pants. Thank whatever god was out there that we heard a set of hooves right before Thalia came close to zapping me.

I dodged past Thalia and ran outside. I looked down from the balcony and saw a horse galloping across the bridge and into the forest. I recognized the black hair that was illuminated by the moonlight. It was Arwen and she looked like she was in a real hurry.

"Is that Arwen?" Nico asked as he appeared beside.

"We have to stop her," I said. "Those things are still out there!"

"Then let's go," Thalia said, her bow and quiver of arrows at hand.

Now Arwen was really ahead of us. Running on foot would make us loose time. Personally, I wouldn't have stolen but emergencies are emergencies. We found the stable and I explained to them the situation. They were really surprised that a mortal can understand them without speaking Elf. Fortunately, the horses were really nice and a black one even let Nico ride him. In a matter of minutes, we set off to the forest with Thalia in the lead. She was the best tracker from the three of us. We would stop a few times for her to find the tracks and then we would continue on.

I noticed that Nico was leaning into his horse's - which by the way, was named Lumroch - neck, looking very uncomfortable.

"Sit up Nico and relax. He's not gonna throw you off," I told him as I reigned my horse, Araryon ( weird names these horses had ), to gallop right beside him. "You can ride a hellhound but you can't ride on a horse?" I said.

"Easy for you to say," Nico said irritably. "Animals generally don't like me and you're the son of the Lord of Horses so it's natural."

_Your father? _Lumroch and Araryon asked me.

"Yeah," I said to them. "He's the father of horses from where I come from."

_Is that why you can understand and talk to us without speaking Elven? _Araryon asked.

"It seems so."

_Tell my rider to relax. His legs are too tight! _Lumroch whinnied.

"Nico, don't be too stiff. Just move with the flow," I encouraged him. "You're making this as bad for him as you are."

Nico gripped the reins but loosened himself slightly. His posture was still a bit stiff but at least he was making progress. Pretty soon we were going deeper and deeper into the woods. We crossed though a river to the other side. The trees were so thick that the it was hard to see the tracks, even with a few gleams of moonlight. Maybe it was my imagination but it was darker than what it was supposed to be. It was so dark that I had to take out Riptide to help Thalia.

A far bit away from us, our horses were checking out a tree. I have no idea what they were doing but they promised that they wouldn't run.

"How far do you think she went?" Nico asked, his eyes scanning our surroundings. Children of Hades have better eyesight when it came to the dark than most demigods, better even than a hunter. He had night-vision hardwired in his eyeballs.

"Not far," Thalia replied.

Nico suddenly moved in front of us with his sword in hand. I almost jumped when he did that because he moved so silently. Another perk for being the son of Hade's - you can move like a shadow. He pressed his finger against his lips. _Quiet _he was saying.

He motioned with his fingers, a sign that most demigods know. _Something's coming. _The forest was so quiet that we could only hear our breathing.

Quietly as we could, me and Thalia stood up with our weapons.

_The Nazgul! _Lumroch reared, his hooves kicking the air like he was fending something off.

"A Nazgul? What's a Nazgul?" I said.

Before any of them answered me or told me to shut up, I heard the several sets of hooves charging towards us. We had only seconds to react. Nico raised his sword high and slammed it down on the ground. The darkness dispersed and moonlight poured it. Thalia glared at him with her bow notched.

"You could have done that a while ago!" She looked like she wanted to shoot him.

"I just came up with it right now!" he shot back.

_Will you flee or fight Horse Lord? _Aleallyra, Thalia's horse, beckoned to me.

The sounds came closer and I could feel the ground beneath my feet shaking. I gave Aleallyra my answer by calling Araryon. I gave a sharp whistle. He came over and I saddled him. Thalia and Nico did the same.

I kicked my heels and Araryon rode forward. Thalia and Nico rode beside me and I noticed that Nico was keeping up with us. Good.

Thalia, whose eyes can see farther than the rest of us, pointed up ahead. It was Arwen and on her front was the Hobbit in my dreams. He looked close to dying. She was running away from the things in my dreams and they were closing in on her. Thalia fired an arrow at the closest thing. It hit right on the forehead but he didn't fall. It became disoriented and ran into a tree but it didn't die.

"Di immortales! That's impossible!" Thalia said.

She looked at us in surprise. I suddenly had an idea. If they really won't die then we'll be wasting time. We needed to get rid of them in one move. I steered Araryan around towards the path we came.

"Where are you going?" Thalia said.

"Just hold them off!" I told them. I gestured for Arwen to come my way.

"It's Percy's crazy idea time," I heard Nico say before I went off.

Before long, I can hear Thalia's arrows hitting one rider after another, and Nico's yell as he charged. Hopefully, Stigian Iron would work on those things. I heard Arwen catch up behind me and I urged Araryon to go on.

"You still know where the river is right?" I asked him.

_I remember well enough Horse Lord _he replied.

I cursed when I heard those things coming in from behind us. Arwen rode next to me.

"Are you foolish?" she asked me.

Foolish? I think I passed that line a long time ago. The river came into view and I willed it to be as solid as concrete. I didn't see Arwen's look of total shock. When we crossed I turned around, glared at them and concentrated. I felt a familiar tug in my stomach and willed the river to rise. Thalia and Nico burst through the trees and stopped. Forty feet of rushing water towered over them and with a jerk of my head, I sent it all crashing on their heads.

"Is he okay?" I pointed at the Hobbit.

Arwen shook her head. "No, I fear he might die if I don't take him to my Father soon."

"We'll come with you unless those things come back," I said. She shook her head. "There are others that came with him. Find them and see to it that they are safe."

I knew arguing was useless with this lady.

"I'll go with her," Nico offered. "If those things come back I'll try and shadow travel."

I nodded. "Okay, Thalia and I would go find his friends and Nico, make sure you stay safe." I told him sternly. Gods, I was turning into my mother.

"I got it, Percy!" Nico said and turned. Before long, Arwen and Nico were gone.

"How far did you send those things?" Thalia asked me.

"A hundred miles I think. Come one, we should get going."

* * *

Finding them wasn't so hard. They actually came to us and by all means it wasn't a friendly greeting.

Me and Thalia were trotting back to where Arwen came from. If they were on guard, we wanted them to know that we meant no harm. I passed by a bush and one minute I was on Araryon, the next, for the third time today, something jumped out and I was on the ground with a sword pointed at my throat.

"Who are you?" I heard him demand.

"Let him go," Thalia had an arrow notched and ready to fire. "Unless you want an arrow sticking out of your head." He glanced at her, then at me and stood up. I got back on my feet and massaged my neck.

"Dude," I said. "I think I've had enough of falling down thanks."

"So what's you're deal? I don't think human's from around here greet by holding the other at sword point." Thalia didn't relax a bit.

"I apologize." The man sheathed his sword and raised his hands. "I am - "

Before he could introduce himself , three very frightened Hobbits came out, two of them screaming "Aragorn!" while the other was carrying a bag that looked way to big for him. He stumbled and tripped. Without thinking, I dropped my sword. I reached out and caught him with my left and his stuff, my right. "You al'right?"

He was chubbier than the other Hobbits and like the other Hobbits, he had curly hair and hairy feet.

"I'm f-f-fine, thank you," he whispered, almost terrified. I let him go, letting him know that I wouldn't hurt him. He eyed me wearily but at least he didn't run from me. He carefully went back to his friends. I heard him whisper "Who are they Aragorn? What happened to Frodo?" He sounded really worried.

"Do not worry Sam. Frodo is safe with Arwen."

"But what if the Nazgul caught up to her?" another Hobbit asked. The two other Hobbits that I don't know reminded me of the Stoll brothers. If the situation wasn't so serious, I bet they would have been stealing food and be poster Hobbit of the year.

"She's fine. Arwen came through safely," Thalia said, making all three Hobbits jump.

"You claim you that you know - who are you?" Aragorn asked.

"Believe me when I say were friends," I said.

"I don't recognize either you two." Aragorn eyed Thalia and I.

"That's because we're new," I said wearily. Now that the danger was done and over with, I had to fight back down a yawn. I was drained in both body and mind. My vision blurred a bit and I shook myself awake. Using my demigod powers can take a toll on me but even then, without even using my powers I could go on fighting for hours. It looked like the dream I had exhausted me to the bone; even if nothing physically harmful happened to me.

"Are you all right?" Sam asked me. Thalia came beside me and clasped my left shoulder.

"He's just tired." she explained. "Listen, it's been a long day today for all of us. For now, we need to rest. We'll talk when we're ready."

Aragorn thought for a moment and nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. "Very well then.

* * *

**Next chapter: The Council of Elrond.**

**whew, I gotta get my ass working on updating my KHR stories before I update this one again. I apologize again for the long wait and see you guys soon! Oh, and before I forget, thanks a lot for the lovely reviews :) **


	4. Council of Elrond

**Oh wow guys, I'm really sorry for the late update. I didn't mean for it to take this long. I'm flattered though when you guys demand it like "UPDATE NOW". I know I should be offended that you guys are demanding me to write the next chapter but I feel like I owe it my readers so instead of finding this insulting, it's actually adding fuel to my fire.  
**

**Thanks for your support! Percy really appreciates that! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO and LOTR, Rick Riordan and J.R.R Tolkien do and I love them for it!**

* * *

I didn't know when or how but I fell asleep while riding Araryon.

When I woke up I was in my room and Thalia and Nico were talking at the foot of my bed. I sat up, rubbing the back of my neck and yawned.

"Percy!" Nico grinned at me. "You finally decided to wake up."

I ruffled his hair, grinning. "Anything happened while I was out?" Nico shook my hand off but didn't look annoyed by it. Usually he bites people's heads off when they mess with his hair which, I noticed, that he must have gotten a haircut.

"Frodo made it just in time. He's sleeping right now," Thalia said. She adjusted her sleeves and that's when I noticed that both of them were wearing different clothes. Pretty simple, like Medieval style. Nico was wearing all black, from his shirt to his boots. Thalia had the same thing on, except she had a white tunic on that was tied with a corset and her combat boots. Figures that she would never ditch them.

"That's great," I said. I saw a change of clothes on top of an empty chair beside my bed.

"This for me?" I asked. It was a white shirt, just like Nico's but I had a dark green vest to go along with it and some really nice looking boots. While I was fingering my shirt – it was really soft, like the sheets at camp – Thalia was hiding knives in her boots.

"You know," I started. "We're in neutral territory right now." I don't think that the Elves would appreciate us hiding weapons behind their backs, ready to stab them, insulting to their hospitality and all that.

"I know that Seaweed brain but Lord Elrond is holding a council between all the races in Middle Earth. I trust the Elves to an extent but that doesn't go for the rest." To make her point, she stomped her foot down to make sure that the knives she was hiding didn't make a sound.

Wait a minute.

Holding a council with all the races? Even without seeing a map of Middle Earth, I was pretty sure the gathering would take a while.

Are they coming today? I really had no idea. I guess all that knocking out knocked my brains a bit, screwing with my time.

"How long had I been out?" I asked.

"Just a few hours." Nico must have seen the look of confusion on my face because he also said, "Lord Elrond sent messengers out the moment we came back. Did you know Percy? Lord Elrond has this power to see in the future, like Rachel does - except there's no gross snake coming out of her and the glowing eyes."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. So besides for living – like_ forever_ – they can also see into the future? That's cool. As long as they didn't predict an impending doom, I'm good.

"They'll probably be here in a few days," Thalia said.

"So why get suspicious now?" I asked, putting down my shirt and frowning at her.

"Because," she stood up. "We have to be ready no matter what. We're demigods, trouble follows us everywhere – especially you Percy." She gave me this look that said that if anything goes wrong, it was my fault.

I found that really unfair. I was the son of one of the Big Three, I wasn't the only one there that smelled irresistibly like monster chow.

Thalia went to the door. She stopped as she was holding the handle and turned to look back at us. "Go and change Percy, Lord Elrond wants to have an audience with us." She then left Nico and I alone.

"You have to admit she's right Percy," Nico said and I turned to him, a scowl on my face. What? So he thinks it could be my fault too? He flinched at my look and said a quick sorry.

"It's cool," I muttered.

"It's just… the two of you are so alike but you're so… so…" he couldn't find the right words to describe me but I get it. I knew I do a lot of stupid things without thinking.

I got out of my bed and started changing. The shirt felt really nice, it was like it was made specially for me. If the Elves could have a professional job in my world, they could be fashion designers. Nico helped me with the vest because I had some trouble putting it on. When I was done, I was checking myself out in front of a mirror that I was sure wasn't there before in my room.

"Doesn't feel so different from clothes back home right?" Nico said from behind me.

"Yeah," I said absently. "So where are we supposed to meet Lord Elrond?" I strung my camp necklace around my neck and tucked it under my shirt.

"In the Dining chamber. Come on, I bet you're hungry it's almost noon." Nico gestured for me to follow him.

While we were walking, I was looking for Riptide. It was in the pocket of my pants. Good thing that my pants even _had_ any pockets. Nico led me down the corridor to a big set of double doors. He knocked and the doors opened. Inside, Thalia was already there, talking to Lord Elrond. I took a seat right across Thalia and started piling a whole mountain of food on my plate.

I couldn't help it. I was really hungry.

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked. I noticed that Arwen wasn't here. She must have been really tired after last night and Bilbo too, I was hoping for him to join us but being so old… maybe he prefers to drink prune juice.

"I was asking Lord Elrond here about something I heard between Legolas and him. I'm sorry for eavesdropping by the way," Thalia said apologetically at Elrond. Miracles just keep happening every day we spend here. Usually, Thalia hardly apologizes to anyone, unless it was a god, Chiron, Annabeth and until recently, Lord Elrond. When she apologizes to me, she always had this kind of constipated look like the time I convinced her to eat a subway burrito.

"It's quite alright," Elrond told her.

"So, what were you talking about?" Nico asked. Note to self, remember to teach Nico some manners. Then again, I should be the last person to do that considering I tick gods off on a normal basis. I'll ask Annabeth instead.

"Some of the Elves of Middle Earth are leaving," Thalia said. Elrond nodded, a distant look on his face. My fork was half-way to my mouth when I stopped and frowned.

"Leaving?" I said. "Where?"

"That's not important right now." Thalia cut me off. I glared at her. She glared right back at me. "We have something to say to Lord Elrond, right Percy?" She said, her eyes never breaking contact with mine.

"I'll just say it since the two of you are busy," Nico said. "Lord Elrond, we know who brought us here."

Elrond leaned back on his chair, a look of interest on his face. "And who was it?" he asked.

Thalia broke our glaring match to grimace. "You're not going to like it but it's someone called Sauron," she said.

Whatever Sauron did, he really, really made a bad impression on Elrond. His face darkened drastically. He was not amused. "And how," Elrond glanced at me. Guess it wasn't the right time for me to be stuffing my face. "did you come to know of it? How are you so certain that it was Sauron?"

I placed my fork down. "We're Demigods," I explained. "When we dream, our dreams have importance. Sometimes, we get visions of the future or a message. It's a special perk that we get from our parents."

Nico nodded. "But last night, Eru told us that it was Sauron and we know it's really Eru because only a god can invade the dreams of demigods," he added.

"And what of Frodo?" Elrond asked. "How did you come to know about him? I believe you have never even met the Hobbit once."

"It's true," Thalia admitted. "But Percy knew."

Way to go Thalia. Leave the explaining to me, the guy who almost froze to death in his sleep. Elrond turned to me, his expression demanding for an explanation. I started explaining as best as I could about what happened in the dream and after. Nico helped me out a little. Elrond didn't say anything the whole time. At least he looked like he wasn't gearing up for battle anymore.

We let him take it in for a few minutes. "Does your clairvoyance allows you to feel and see what other beings experience?" he asked.

"What about you guys?" I looked at Thalia and Nico. Both of them shook their heads.

"I can't see or feel what other people do," Thalia said, frowning.

"Me neither. When I dream, it's usually about death-related things." Nico's brows furrowed together, as if he suddenly thought of something. "Maybe it's because of your nature. Dad told me once that the Poseidon is unpredictable - random at best."

I thought about it and I had to agree with it. Dad once told me that the sea has no bounds so it made sense. I didn't like to be restrained or ordered around, so even in my dreams I'm crossing lines. Dreaming as Hercules, spying on Krono's plans and seeing a basic picture of things in HD.

"But," he looked at me sympathetically. "that makes you vulnerable to attacks in the mind. Because you're so unpredictable, you can even see what the enemy is planning and if it's a god..."

"If it's a god," Thalia continued. "they can just pull your soul out of your body and destroy you, right?" Nico visibly winced.

Ouch. I've already experienced those things already. Luckily, my dreams always shift or end the moment before I get killed.

"My fears have been confirmed," Elrond suddenly said. We all stopped discussing our dreams and turned to look at him. He had his back turned to us, his hands folded neatly behind his back. The light on his face suddenly made him look older.

"There's another thing that Eru told us," Nico said. "He said the only way for us to return home is to defeat Sauron by destroying the One Ring."

Elrond's head snapped up. He whipped his head around. "Did you say something about a Ring?"

"Yeah. What's this ring that were talking about anyway?" I asked.

Elrond studied us closely, trusting us or not before launching into a story. "It started with the forging of the Great Rings," he said. I started eating again. I wasn't gonna waste my food. "Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest... fairest of all the beings. Seven to the dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And Nine... nine rings were gifted to the Race of Men who, above else, desired within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race."

Elrond paused, he took a sip from his goblet. "But they were all of them deceived." A shudder ran down my back. My hairs on my forearms started sticking up. "In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others and into this ring he poured into his cruelty, malice and his will to dominate all life. One ring to rule them all."

The temperature in the room dropped. I've heard of plenty of stories before but this is the first that I felt like I was actually watching all of this in real life. Elrond's voice carried over, every word heavy with truth. It wasn't a story anymore, he was really telling us history and I would bet my sword that he actually saw it.

We were silent for a while. Then Nico spoke up, "But what happened to Sauron?"

"The free lands of Middle Earth fell one by one to the power of the ring. But there were some who resisted it. A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor. On the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth. Victory was near but the power of the Ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded - that Isildur - son of the king, took up his father's sword. He defeated him and his body crumbled into dust, leaving his Ring in Isildur's hands."

"Isildur... had only one chance to destroy evil forever." There was a look of regret in Elrond's eyes.

"He didn't destroy it," Thalia stated. "He kept it? Didn't he?"

Elrond nodded. Regret still etched on his face. "The hearts of men are easily corrupted young ones, the Ring has a will of it's own."

"A will? Are you telling us that it's alive?" Nico said.

"Sauron poured himself in it. As long as the ring exists, he does as well."

It wasn't that hard to believe. If Kronos came back from Tartarus after centuries then a dead dark overlord can do too.

"So what happened to Isildur?" I asked.

"It betrayed him to his death and things that should not have been forgotten was lost. History became legend and legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years the Ring passed out of all knowledge," Elrond said.

"If it was forgotten then why is it coming out now?" Nico asked.

"This takes us to one of the reasons why Legolas came here."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "So it's not just about the Elves leaving?"

Elrond shook his head. "That is just passing news. His real message was that a captive escaped from Mirkwood and had been captured by the enemy. The captive was Gollum. A creature that discovered the Ring, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountain."

"Misty Mountain?" I repeated, a memory resurfacing in my mind. "Wasn't that in Bilbo's story?"

A smile crept on Elrond's face but he still had that dark expression. "I see Bilbo told you of his adventures. But as darkness grew once again, the Ring abandoned Gollum. Then something happened that the Ring did not intend..."

He trailed off. I wanted to know more but I didn't get why he went quiet all of a sudden. Then I realized that Elrond wanted us to figure something out. Nico snapped his fingers, like he said Eureka!

"Bilbo found it, didn't he?" he grinned. Elrond smiled in reply. Nico's grin grew. "It knew it!" he exclaimed. "It was pretty strange for him to be alive this long."

Elrond nodded. "Indeed. The Ring prolonged his life."

"But if Bilbo found it," Thalia frowned. "Then wouldn't he have been controlled?"

"That is a case that I still wonder about," Elrond murmured.

I leaned back on my chair, my plate clean. I wasn't full but I had no appetite to eat anymore after what I heard. My right hand came to my shoulder, the spot where Frodo was stabbed through.

"So where is the Ring now?" Thalia asked.

"With his nephew, Frodo Baggins."

"No wonder those things were chasing him. What are they anyway? The horses told me they were called the Nazgul," I thought out loud.

"The... horses? You speak Elvish?" Elrond asked.

"It's a Family trait. All children of Poseidon can do it, he's the Father of Horses," I explained quickly.

Elrond nodded, looking amused. "The Nazgul used to be Great Kings of Men. Then Sauron the deciever gave them the Nine Rings of Power. They were blinded by greed and one by one fell to darkness. Neither living or dead."

"That explains a lot of things," Nico said sourly. Nico's sudden change of mood made me turn to him. Nico looked at me. "It's a Son of Hades thing Percy. All things have to die at some point," he said.

Elrond stayed quiet for a while, letting us absorb what we just heard. Then he said, "What bothers me the most is why did Sauron bring you here?"

"I don't know," I said. "But he brought the wrong Demigods."

Nico smirked and Thalia crossed her arms, her eyes blazing like a storm. Elrond fully faced us, his expression unsure. Before he can say anything, the doors opened and an old ragged man stepped in, holding a wooden staff. If I was playing a role playing game, I would have to say that he was a wizard. He certainly looked the part with the beard and the grey robes.

"Gandalf!" Elrond strode pass us and greeted the old man.

"My old friend," Gandalf grasped Elrond's outreached hand as he slightly stumbled. "Is Frodo safe?" he asked.

"You have nothing to fear, he is resting as of this moment."

Gandalf nodded and collapsed into a chair. I took a better look at him. He wasn't in best condition, that's for sure. His nose was slightly crooked, bruises marred his old wrinkly face and there was a trickle of blood running down at the side. He looked relieved at least.

He suddenly noticed us. He gave us a tired smile. "To who do I have this pleasure of meeting? I... apologize for my current appearance."

"It's cool," I said. "I'm Percy, this is Nico and Thalia. We'll be leaving now, you look like you really need rest."

"Indeed I do. It has been quite a day." Gandalf nodded.

We bowed slightly at Elrond. Hey, you give respect to people who deserve it and Elrond earned it. He helped us enough. "We'll be excusing ourselves then," I said.

We then left the chamber.

"What do we do now?" Nico asked as we walked outside.

"We wait."

* * *

I hated waiting. I've been here for a couple of days now and I'm worried about how long it'll take for us to finish this quest. I mean, our parents could be looking all over the world now. Worst case scenario would be a war between the gods but I wasn't worried about that. Kronos was thrown back into Tartarus where he belongs so he won't be able to take advantage of this.

What I was really worried about was that I hope this doesn't take a year. Because I'm not really looking forward to repeating a grade.

We met the Hobbits. Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took but they're known as Sam, Merry and Pippin. Sam was a really nice guy and I instantly took a liking to him. Merry - who at first I misheard and called 'Mary' - and Pippin were like the Stoll brothers. They didn't cause trouble but they were definitely jokers.

It was amazing how much they eat. First breakfast, second breakfast... I've never even taken a second breakfast before. It really makes you think how they eat so much when they're that small.

Good news though, Frodo woke up. We decided to leave him alone. I mean, I would wanna stay away from strangers if I was stabbed through in the chest with an unholy sword, I would be better off waking and spending time with friends and family. So we left the Hobbits alone.

Elrond was busy most of the time. Talking seriously with Gandalf and all.

We've been touring Rivendell at the time being and I have to say, if I had a camera, I would take a picture out of anything here. Even trash cans, if they had one. This place would be awesome as a movie set and great for postcards. We went to the archery range where Thalia tried to help me with my archery. Just when I stopped thinking that I won't hit people now, I almost took Nico's hand off.

He was eating an apple at that time. Totally freaked out when the arrow just took the apple with it. Seriously, I had no idea how I even did that. Nico wasn't even in front of me, he was _behind_ me.

Thalia gave up on me and even Legolas too. He saw me getting lectured and tried to help. He didn't want to help anymore when I almost shot him in the head.

If there was one thing I couldn't excel at, it was archery. Chiron knew that, Thalia knows that, and now Legolas knows that. People should be beware when they shove a bow and arrow into my hands.

Luckily, the council members started to arrive.

A week maybe, a person from Gondor arrived. Aragorn told us that he was Boromir, son of Denethor, Steward of Minas Tirith, the White City of the East.

He was the first human other than Aragorn that we met and in the first five seconds from meeting him, I already wanted to punch him in the face. Thalia wanted to fry him and Nico wanted to drag him to china town and bust his head open with a steel pipe. No wonder Bianca was so strict, Nico was like a violent sponge that just soaks up anything. I really need to see what he had been watching.

Anyway, he might have been polite when he was talking to us but I know what he was thinking - _What's a bunch of kids doing here? _

I've taken on monsters a hundred times my size since I was twelve and he was looking at me like I was beneath him. I really hated that. Being treated like a kid. But he didn't know I was a Demigod so I didn't deck him. I dragged Nico and Thalia off too.

At least the dwarfs were nicer. We were at the terrace with Aragorn when they came.

"The dwarfs of Erebor," Aragorn said. Three of them arrived and I'm telling you, they were _ripped_. I've never seen or met a dwarf before so I don't know what they looked like but they looked really strong. They kind of reminded me of Vikings that were shrunk half their size. They also had some really thick beards.

"The ones in Bilbo's story?" Nico asked. Aragorn nodded. He pointed at the red-beard dwarf.

"That one is Gimli, son of Gloin," he said.

Thalia took one look at the dwarf and pursed her lips. "I'm guessing that now that the dwarfs are here, the council will begin soon."

Aragorn nodded. "Indeed."

* * *

Right now, we were sitting in a circular formation outside. Elrond sat on a throne and in the middle, was a stone altar.

I've been on war councils before, I should know since I lead it but that happened in the Big House around a ping pong table. This was a whole new level of seriousness. Sitting still was driving me crazy. My ADHD was making this hard on me. Thalia was having the same problem. Nico though, that brat, he was just leaning against his chair with his arms crossed. I wish I could cross my legs like that and still look cool.

Elrond rose from his seat and stood in front of the whole council. "Strangers from distant lands... friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite... or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate... this one doom..."

I swallowed and looked at Thalia. We knew what that means - war. I looked back at Elrond and tried not to glare at him. It wasn't his fault that we got dragged into another war. When we find Sauron I'll make sure I'll flush him down the ocean and have him eaten by sharks.

At the corner of my eyes, I saw that Frodo was fidgeting in his seat. Poor dude. I never thought of it before but now that I thought about it, why was Frodo here? Why did Bilbo leave the Ring with him? Because he was his nephew? I know from Bilbo that Hobbits are peaceful. They stay in the Shire, away from the wars. I'm pretty sure he didn't sign up for this.

Elrond waved his hand at Frodo. "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

Frodo got up off his seat shakily and placed a small gold ring on the stone altar.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"So it is true!" Boromir said, shocked.

My hand reached into my pocket for Riptide. That _thing_ was pulsing with power and it wasn't the good kind. It felt like Tartarus - evil. I wanted to destroy it. I wanted it as far away as possible. I felt angry at it for no reason. That thing is not supposed to exist.

"Sauron's Ring! The Ring of power!" Legolas said in disbelief.

"So that thing is Sauron's?" Thalia said through clenched teeth. I glanced at her. She had the same angry look that I had. Her face twisted, disgusted. "It's certainly a piece of work."

I nodded at her. Whoever Sauron is, I can imagine him as a dark overlord. Just like Kronos, there was nothing more that he wanted than to plunge the whole world into destruction.

"The doom of man!" Gimli said.

Boromir leaned from his seat. His eyes brimming with something that I was familiar with. Power. He wanted power. Whatever that Ring is, it's putting a spell on him. I can feel it reaching out to me, wanting me to take it and wear it. It had it's own will, I remember Elrond telling us.

I tried to ignore it but it was humming. Creepy.

"It is a gift," Boromir pointed at it. "A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this Ring?" He got up his seat looked every single one of them in the eye. "Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, held the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy... let us use it against him!"

"Are you stupid or something?" I heard Thalia said. She stood up, her fists clenched by her sides. "Use it as a weapon? Can't you feel it? Its _evil. _You can't use it, let alone control it." I could see sparks coming out between her fingers.

"And what do you know? You're nothing but a child!" Boromir retorted.

I was ready to jump in there but Nico beat me to it. "What do you know?" Nico mockingly shot back at him. "You know nothing of what this thing can do! It's evil. Pure evil. Can't you feel it? See it? _Hear it?_" Nico had this maniacal look in his eyes. The same look that Hade's usually has but his face was emotionless. I had to admit, he was terrifying and intimidating. Despite being twelve-years old, he was pretty badass.

Boromir took a step back but he glared at them.

"Listen to them Boromir," Aragorn said reasonably. "The one ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."

Boromir turned to look at Aragorn coolly. "And what would a ranger know of this matter?"

Legolas suddenly stood up. "This is no mere Ranger, he is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance," he said.

Disbelief flooded Boromir's face. "This is Isildur's heir?"

"And heir to the throne of Gondor." Legolas defiantly retorted.

_"Havo dad, Legolas," _Aragorn said to him. Legolas gave Boromir a dirty look but didn't say otherwise and sat on his seat again.

"Gondor needs no king," Boromir said. Gods, doesn't this guy ever shut up?

"And we don't need to hear of it from you," I finally snapped at him. To my pleasure, he shut up. "Thalia," I said. "Let's just get this over with already."

She glared at me. "Don't boss me around Percy!" She sat down on her chair anyway. At least she listened to me.

Boromir didn't say anymore as he sat back down on his seat.

Gandalf coughed, diverting our attention to him. He looked better than when he first came here. Gandalf eyed us three before turning towards the ring, a weary look in his eye. "Our guests are right. We cannot use it."

Elrond spoke up, his tone decisive, "You only have one choice... the Ring must be destroyed."

I looked around to see what the other's reactions were but only Frodo caught my eye. He looked like he was hearing something that we can't hear. Frodo suddenly winced as a metal hitting metal sound was heared. I looked just in time to see Gimli thrown back with his axe blasted from his hands. There, in the middle, the Ring looked unharmed. Turning back to Frodo, I saw him slumping in his chair, clutching his head like he had a headache.

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom... only there it can be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor, and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came." Elrond's eyes fell on us.

Sounded like an exorcist job. _Back demon from once you came! _To be honest, I've never seen anything like it before. Something forged and can only be destroyed from where it came from. I don't know any magical item that's indestructible. I've never even tried breaking a god's weapon before - I'm not that crazy - so I really don't know.

The council was stunned. They looked down at the ground, as if they knew what Elrond was asking. They looked like they were dreading something which, by the circumstances that are happening right now, was completely understandable.

I sucked in a breath and let out a sigh. It can't be any worse from my previous quests.

"We will take the Ring to Mordor," I said as I stood up. Thalia and Nico coming up beside me.

Somebody laughed and my eyes instantly zeroed into Boromir. Slowly, the others followed and then the whole council. They all laughed except Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo and Elrond. When Elrond didn't object to our claim, the laughter died and disbelief replaced it.

"You cannot be serious Elf! They are nothing but children!" a dwarf said. My fingers twitched for Riptide. I'm sixteen dude. I don't look like a kid anymore.

"Young as they are they were sent here for a purpose," Elrond said. He looked at us and nodded. I nodded right back.

"We," I gestured at us. "Aren't from around here. We're actually demigods - half human, half god - from another world." I decided to leave out the part where we got kidnapped and brought forcefully here by Sauron. Didn't want them to be suspicious of us, it was already hard enough that we're from another world and we're apparently children of supernatural beings. Good thing I did too because there was an uproar from the council members. Aragorn, Gandalf and Frodo were in shock while the rest spat out that we're liars and all that junk.

"What is your proof? All I see is three children who are clearly out of their minds," Boromir said.

"I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon," I said, glaring at him. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses and god of the Sea."

"Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades." Nico still had that evil eye look that Hades had. "God of the Underworld, wealth and Lord of the Dead."

They jumped when Nico raised a hand, as if he was going to do something freaky but he just waved at them. I held back a snicker.

"Thalia, Daughter of Zeus, god of Justice, Honor, Lightning and Skies."

They looked unconvinced and Boromir looked like he had something to say when Thalia stomped on the ground hard. The clouds overhead turned dark and lightning shot down from the skies. Thalia had her hand outstretched, and the bolt struck it. With aim, she hurled the bolt outside of Rivendell, hitting a wall of earth leaving a huge gaping crater.

They all looked stunned. The dwarfs were gaping and Boromir looked like I just punched him in the face. He shut his mouth and suddenly turned serious. He pointed a finger at us.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Boromir said.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Watch us."

Boromir glared at him. "You do not understand, its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust...the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this and supernatural powers. It is folly," he said.

The image of a flaming eyeball on top of a dark tower filled my mind. I knew that this was suicidal. But we we're demigods, we're supposed to go against all the odds.

"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The ring must be destroyed!" Legolas said.

An argument started as Gimli accused, "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?"

Seriously, didn't we just make it clear that _we_ were the ones to go?

"And if they fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?" Boromir looked at me straight in the eye. "How do we know that you yourselves will not take the Ring for your own gain?"

A storm of arguments broke out. Everyone was suddenly pointing accusations at us and at each other.

"Never trust an Elf!" Gimli shouted.

Suddenly Gandalf joined in, "Do you not understand? While we bicker among ourselves, Sauron's power grows! No one will escape it. You will all be destroyed, your homes burnt and your families put to the sword!"

Things got worse when the humming grew louder until I was getting a headache. The humming drowned out the voices until I had enough and a fountain near us exploded. Water shot out and sprayed some of the council members. It wasn't as strong as when I doused Clarrise but it worked.

"Power like that will only bring trouble," I said darkly, remembering Luke. "I won't take it even if you paid me."

Nico nodded. "Me neither, I've got enough power to bring trouble for a lifetime."

Thalia flicked her wrist and her hand flowed with electricity. They all flinched. "We're Demigods, heroes of the gods. We do not consort with dark magic," she said, daring any of them to contradict her.

There was silence until Frodo walked up to us meekly. "I will bear the ring. I will take it to Mordor with you."

My face fell and I worried. "But Frodo, you went through enough as it it," I said. Frodo grimly smiled at me.

"Who else would do but me?" he asked. I shook my head, not exactly believing that he would do that. Not everyone would willingly volunteer for a suicidal quest. He might not return from it. But he understands. He understood how heavy of a burden it was and I was moved by his courage. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then we'll be happy to protect you," I said. I suddenly realized something. "Er... but we exactly don't know how to get there," I confessed embarrassingly. Nico and Thalia suddenly looked sheepish.

"Guess we forgot about that," Nico muttered.

Gandalf rose to his feet. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear." He smiled gratefully at us.

"If, by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." Aragorn knelt in front of Frodo like a knight. "You have my sword."

"And you have my bow," Legolas said.

"And my axe," Gimli added.

Boromir looked at all of us and stepped up. "You carry the fate of us all, little one." He looked at us, looking a bit sorry and then turned to Elrond and Gandalf. "If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done," he declared.

Frodo looked at everyone around him in wonder. Suddenly Sam popped out of a bush and he rushed to Frodo's side. Sam reminded me of Mrs. O'leary when I come home with a bag of dog treats.

"Mr. Frodo's not gong anywhere without me!" Sam said. I gotta give him credit for sticking with his friends.

Elrond looked like he could be laughing but he didn't. In his most serious face he said, "No, Indeed...it is hardly possible to separate you...even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."

Sam turned pink and I grinned.

Then Merry and Pippin came out of a bush too and ran towards Frodo.

"Oi! We're coming too! You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." Merry puffed out his chest. Nico snickered and Aragorn shook his head.

"Anyway...you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission...quest...thing..." he faltered a little but puffed out his chest too like Merry. I would have face palmed if I didn't find this so funny.

Merry gave Pippin a _Really Pip?_ look. "Well, that rules you out, Pip," he said. I couldn't help it, I laughed a little.

Elrond surveyed us thoughtfully. "Twelve companions... so be it," he announced. "You shall be called the 'Fellowship of the Ring'."

Pippin smiled giddily. "Great. Where are we going?"

Everybody turned to Pippin. Seriously?

* * *

**I loved that scene in the movie. They all turn to Pippin with WTF expressions xD**

**Anyway, as you guys can see, I added some of the original dialogue from the movie. It was too good to replace and instead of Galadriel, I had Elrond explain to them about the Ring and so on. Forgive me if I make any mistake, whether about my spelling and grammar or about my timing of the events that occur.**

** For those who like Boromir - sorry! Didn't mean to make him sound like a douche but he gave me the impression he was and when he redeemed himself as he died, I cried for him. **

**"Oh Boromir, you're not a douchebag after all! Nooooo, don't die!" I was like that.**

**Thanks for the reviews once again, the alerts and the favorites. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


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